Shell-Dwelling Bristlenoses
Written by Friday, 09 April 2010 00:00
My experience with Ancistrus starts just over a year ago when a friend gave me 4 young specimens. At the time they were still too young to determine their sex. After a few months I noticed there were one male and three females.
As my fish were the offspring of a pairs who had reproduced many times in my friend's aquarium I was hoping they will spawn relatively easily in my tanks. I placed them in a 200 lit tank where I breed Tanganyika cichlids and in particular Neolamprologus multifasciatus, a shelldweller cichlid. I slightly adapted the tank to accommodate the ancistrus; I added a number of rocks, caves, plants, wood and some little jars just to ensure they have a variety of spaces suitable for spawning sites as well as the privacy required for them to do so. In terms of water parameters, the hardness values of the water are very high, the pH is greater than 8 while the water temperature is set about 77 F (25o C).
The surprises began for me when the catfish, which have all the same age, have reached sexual maturity. Unexpectedly, shortly before the Ancistrus were to begin spawning, I saw a terrible battle between the cichlids from one side and the catfish on the other. The fish were fighting over possession of the shells!
My initial thought was that the catfish wanted to eat Ithe small newborn cichlids. A few days later, however, I realized that this was very much not the case. The cats were fighting to win possession of the shells, which they wanted to use as spawning sites, whilst the N. multifasciatus were trying to defend their territory. Unfortunately the cichlids lost and shortly after the male Ancistrus took ownership of the largest shell.
What happened next was an unusual and particularly interesting Ancistrus spawn. The male, having removed all cichlids from the vicinity of the shell, started cleaning it out by moving his fins continuously as far in as he could get. Once the shell was clean enough for the eggs he was ready to spawn. So one evening, looking inside the aquarium, I was surprised to see the way this pair were spawning. I immediately proceeded to film it:
After about a week the fry hatched using the shell as their nursery. The male was guarding the entrance of the shell and was going in and out of the shell continously to clean the fry and attend to them. I have taken the opportunity to video record the parental care under these unusual circumstances:
I could not resist taking some photos too:
I was curious to check the male's behaviour but also to see the fry develop; I was also slightly concerned that the Neolamprologus tretocephalus may harm the young bristlenoses. So I isolated the shell and its contents into a small breeding trap attached to the same aquarium.
The photos above were taken shortly after. The male was by then out of the shell, clearly disturbed by my moving the shell. I was unsure of what he would do next in such a small enclosed space. To avoid him hurting the fry after a few hours I returned him into the aquarium with his shell. The fry were left in the breeding trap. Only one wringler was lost from that brood; the rest grew fine and now live in other tanks.
A few days later the male was preparing to shell to accept another spawn; a second female was ready to lay eggs. This time I took the shell into the breeding trap to observe the reaction of the male when he realised his shell was gone. Was he going to use one of the spawning sites I provided for him or not? Well, the surprise was that the male did not go to the sites provided. Instead he fought for and won, as previously, another shell in the acquarium, and now, just as I am writing this, he is guarding newly laid eggs.
Photos and video clips by the author.
Webmaster's note: The footage provided by Andrea is simply unique. It shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that if fish are in a good condition they will find a way to spawn. It also shows how little we know about their preferred spawning sites and prerequisites for spawning. What prompted this fish to spawn almost in the open and ignore the caves that Andrea put in for him? It is exciting to see the female "in action" and the pair changing positions to lay and fertilize the eggs in a cichlid like motion. We have known ancistrus to be excellent parents and fierce while spawning; Andrea's testimony confirms this.
Read Ancistrus sp. 3 profile.
Related Articles: Keeping and Breeding Ancistrus sp. 3
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